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Articles Written In Reference To The Reformat Project.
Reformatted Platform website is now online | George Squyres |
| 09 Sept 2003 | |
 Thanks to a new website, LP members can now view and comment on the "reformatting" project that may change the face of the Libertarian Party's Platform.
The website -- www.aznorthernalliance.org/LNCplatform -- has rewritten versions of more than half of the Platform's 61 planks, and has a feedback mechanism so party members can make suggestions, said George Squyres, a member of the LP Platform Special Committee.
"The website was created so the reformatting of the Platform would be available to the membership as a whole, so that membership input and feedback could be incorporated into the process," he said.
"People who care about the Platform -- and want to understand the reformatting process or want to contribute to it -- can view the ongoing process, see the results we are producing, and participate in it."
The project is part of the Libertarian Party's Strategic Plan, adopted by the Libertarian National Committee, Inc. (LNC) in August 2001.
One of the 20 political strategies in the plan calls for the party to "Redevelop the LP Platform, presenting both direction and destination, with an eye toward electoral success (without compromising core beliefs)."
The Platform Special Committee -- 20 LP members from around the USA who are collaborating via e-mail -- is taking each plank and "reformatting" its language into four categories, said Squyres:
* The Issue: Committee members will try to frame each issue in a way that will allow Libertarians to "control the debate."
* Principle: Will clearly state the Libertarian principle behind each plank, and illustrate "exactly how that principle applies to a particular issue."
* Solutions: Will offer a Libertarian solution for every issue, and "state the exact steps we would take to get there."
* Transitions: Will showcase political action Libertarians have already taken on this issue.
The goal of the reformatting project is to craft Platform language that "will not be the rambling emotional operation of the past, but a concise, insightful solution" that presents a "clear, strong message to the voting public," said Squyres.
"This project is not about new language, as language will always evolve over time," he said. "It is about putting in place a logical format that will govern whatever language goes into the platform now and in the future."
None of the proposed changes are permanent until delegates at the party's 2004 national convention -- to be held in Atlanta, Georgia on May 27-31, 2004 -- vote to approve them.
LP members who visit the new website will get the opportunity to see the proposed changes and make suggestions -- and that input will be carefully considered, said Squyres.
"All comments will be reviewed by a number of people," he said. "When a suggestion improves either the reformatting process or the language, then the individual [Committee] champion of a given plank may substitute that suggestion into the plank."
The committee is seeking input as soon as possible, said Squyres, so it can present proposed planks to the LNC at its meeting in Denver, Colorado on September 13-14, 2003.
Additional information about the reformatting project is available on the website, said Squyres.
"I hope everyone who visits the website will read the information and articles on the main page and on the articles page," he said. "A lot of questions are answered there that regularly get asked, as well as articles on the project and its progress.
"Also, I am hoping that many of the party's elder statesmen will involve themselves in the project and give us the benefit of their longer term experience."
The Platform Special Committee consists of Mike Dixon (NC), Dean Ahmad (MD), Lorenzo Gaztanaga (MD), Michael Gilson de Lemos (FL), Henry Haller (PA), Sean Haugh (NC), Ed Hoch (AK), Erin Hollinden (IN), Robert Murphy (OK), George Squyres (AZ), Joe Hauptmann (IN), Mark Schreiber (IN), Wayne Nygren (CA), Dan Nafe (FL), Steve Hoffman (GA), Austin Hough (IL), Keith Edwards (MI), Bonnie Scott (NY), Norma Skoog (OH), Julian Heicklen (PA), Robert Restivo (TX), and Greg Clark (WA). | |
